SteamVR Support Lands on Windows Mixed Reality Today

As expected, Microsoft is bringing SteamVR support for Windows Mixed Reality today. Microsoft today released SteamVR support for Windows Mixed Reality as a preview through the Steam Early Access program, giving the game developers the opportunity to optimize their games for Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

Microsoft claims the preview is targetted towards developers and there are some known “performance and experience” issues in the preview. Regular consumers using SteamVR on their Windows Mixed Reality headsets will probably be disappointed with the early preview, and Microsoft is tight-lipped about general availability at the moment. “The Windows Mixed Reality SteamVR preview will remain in Early access until developers have time to try out the preview with their titles and the quality of the experience gets to where we want it to be. We don’t yet have specific timelines to share but lookout for more information soon on broader availability,” Microsoft stated in the Steam Early Access listing for the Windows Mixed Reality SteamVR preview.

SteamVR support for Windows Mixed Reality will certainly give users access to a wider range of VR content on their headsets. Right now, the Microsoft Store doesn’t have a tonne of VR games for Windows Mixed Reality, so the addition of SteamVR will give the headsets a huge boost in terms of content. The preview will be available later today from Steam Early Access here, and Microsoft recommends users to have a machine with the GTX 1070 GPU, Intel Core i7 processor, and the latest Windows 10 Redstone 4 build from the Windows Insider program for the best experience.

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So now Microsoft has the easiest to install hardware, the best price range, a full complement of hardware vendors, great third party software support and full support for VR/MR in their cross-platform operating system

No wonder the comments from the usual ABM (Anyone But Microsoft) people are geared toward sour grapes about VR and MR itself. Microsoft has done it right.

Sorry, despite the hype, VR/MR is a non-starter for the vast majority. It simply isn't going to gain any traction in the consumer space. Gamers account for a fraction of a percent, and then only a small percentage of those will invest in VR, as they're the only ones with kit powerful enough. For the rest, it won't even register, and there are many reasons why it will fail. Just look at the way 3DTV's were hyped, and then died off rapidly when manufacturers realized consumers weren't actually interested. Did anyone really do any market research on this?

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